Immortalize

I gaze into the mirror

But it is not me who I see

Electric bulb perimeter

Frames another personality

To add to my repertoire

Words on the tip of my tongue

Mouthed one hundred times as lights fade

Here is the me who is not me

Nerve endings and wild limbs splayed

The story unfolds

Clawing at my face

Another me who is not me is born

Living, fighting, dying

A repetition for them to celebrate and mourn

The illusion of the first time

You’ll never make a living

You’re wasting your time

Choose engineering, psychology, language instead

To throw your intelligence away on this would be a crime

What, and give up my passion?

Out of the spotlight, now red velvet

Up there, I point, is where I make my living

Here is the me I want you to see

Striving through a practice most unforgiving

But I love it

I gaze out from the audience

Watching the ghost of me

Gesticulating, masquerading, emotions articulating

There, I smile, is me

How I will be remembered